Current Employment Position(s)

Associate

Lawyer Overview

Cecilia maintains a broad litigation practice, with a focus on intellectual property matters involving patent and trademark disputes. Her IP practice includes litigation in federal and state courts, litigation before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), trademark prosecution, opposition practice before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), and client counseling on transactional and licensing issues implicating IP concerns. Cecilia also represents clients in general commercial litigation disputes, ranging from product liability defense to contractual interpretation issues in supply agreements to retirement benefit cases implicating ERISA. Cecilia has represented financial institutions, investment companies, coal and natural gas companies, real estate developers, holding companies, and various manufacturing entities. In particular, she has represented companies that produce laser bar code scanners, telecommunications equipment, wireless communications devices, such as cell phones, and other consumer goods. Cecilia has practiced before the state and federal courts of Pennsylvania (at both the trial and appellate levels), the Commonwealth Court and Pennsylvania state agencies, as well as tribunals across the country, including federal agencies. She has experience with alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration. Cecilia is also experienced in e-discovery counseling, including document retention policy analysis and implementation, and has written on a host of related topics.

Cecilia has been named a "2008 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, Rising Star," and she devotes her time to several legal organizations. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and is actively involved in the Litigation and Intellectual Property Sections of the American Bar Association. Cecilia co-chaired the mid-year meeting CLE presentation for the ABA IP section in 2008. She is a current member of Council for the IP Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, serving as the secretary and bylaws chairman. She is also a member of the PBA Civil Litigation Section. Her experiences have led her to become a frequent faculty member for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute's continuing legal education programs, speaking on topics involving intellectual property, electronic discovery, and constitutional law and theory. Locally, Cecilia chairs the Programs Committee of the Pittsburgh Intellectual Property Law Association. She is also a member of the Rules Committee of the Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA) and is serving a three-year term on the Civil Litigation Section Council for the ACBA. Cecilia is serving on the planning committee for the 2008 The Best of Legal Technology (TBOLT) conference to be held in Pittsburgh.

Active in her community, Cecilia accepts pro bono referrals for litigation matters from Neighborhood Legal Services Association and the Federal Court Prisoners' Rights Project. She also is an adjunct professor at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in the Alex G. McKenna School of Business, Economics and Government, where she teaches courses on constitutional law, civil rights and liberties, and American political thought. In 2007, she was recognized in Who's Who Among American Teachers & Educators. Cecilia recently completed a term on the board of directors of the Spina Bifida Association of Western Pennsylvania and is a member of the Harvard Club of Western Pennsylvania.

Areas of Practice

• Intellectual Property
• Copyrights & Trademarks
• ITC Section 337
• Patent Litigation
• Trial Practice
• e-Discovery

Representative Cases

• United States International Trade Commission Investigation No. 337-TA-640 , (2008)
• Electronic Data Systems Corp. v. Online Wireless, Inc. et al., No. 2:08-cv-041-TJW (E.D. Tex. 2007)
• In the Matter of Certain Laser Bar Code Scanners and Scan Engines, Components Thereof and Products Containing Same 337-TA-551 (U.S. International Trade Commission)
• Lamson & Sessions, Co. v. IPEX, Inc., 05-cv-1184 (W. D. Pa.)
• Document Retention Policies & Electronic Records Counseling
• International Trademark Portfolio
• Litigation
• Patent Infringement Litigation, 06-cv-1202, 07-cv-0326, 07-cv-1683 (W. D. Pa.)
• Toy recalls
• West Virginia Litigation

West Practice Categories

Bankruptcy Litigation, Class Actions, Complex Litigation, Copyrights, Federal Appellate Practice, Federal Claims Court, Federal Trial Practice, Intellectual Property Law, International Intellectual Property, International Trade Litigation, Litigation & Appeals, Military & Veterans Appeals, Multidistrict Litigation, Patent Litigation, Patents, State Appellate Practice, State Trial Practice, Tax Litigation, Technology Licensing, Trade Dress, Trade Secrets, Trademarks, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, US Supreme Court

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania

Education

• Harvard University

Published Works

• Researching Fine Lines: Federal Funding of Stem Cell Research and the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Forum on Public Policy, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2008
• The Challenges in Mobile Computing, New York Law Journal, 2008
• Winds of Change: Patent Law Reform Act of 2007, IP Review, 2007
• The Fundamentals of Idea Protection, PBI, 2007
• Local Rules and Fast-Tracking Cases in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Intellectual Litigation, ABA IP Litigation Committee of the ABA Section of Litigation, Vol. 18, No. 3, 2007
• E-liminating an E-nigma of E-Discovery: Guiding Principles for Complying with Ethical Obligations Associated with Electronic Discovery, 2007
• Patent Reform Act of 2007: Bill Proposing Fundamental Changes to the Patent System (H.R. 1908) (S. 1145), 2007
• E-Discovery: Recent Case Developments and the Impact of the Revised Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on Litigation, 2007
• Getting Started: Procedures for Developing a Document Retention System, BNA Tax and Accounting Policy and Practice Special Report, 2007
• Chapter 8: Privilege, Understanding the New E-Discovery Rules, Defense Research Institute, 2006
• E-Discovery-Related Changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 2006
• Special Masters Can Do the Heavy Lifting for E-Discovery, National Law Journal, 2006
• U.S. House of Representatives Proposes Sweeping Changes in the Patent Reform Act (H.R. 2795), 2005

Address

500 Grant Street, Suite 4500
Pittsburgh, PA 15219-2514

Phones

1.412.394.7954 (Business Phone)

Faxes

1.412.394.7959 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.jonesday.com